The Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer
Strasse is another one of my favourite sites in Berlin to take visitors. The
memorial is very well done and includes an outdoor exhibit that traces the
length of the wall with an original watchtower, a museum and a film.
On Bernauer
Strasse the border ran directly in front of the buildings situated on the East
Berlin side of the street. After barriers were erected, many residents living
in these border buildings spontaneously decided to flee. Eventually as the wall
became a more permanent structure made of concrete, people were removed from
these buildings and windows were bricked over to avoid any escape attempts.
Throughout the site are memorials to various aspects of the wall like excavated foundations of a former apartment building whose façade functioned as the border wall until the early eighties. . .
As well as tunnel 57. The tunnels are named after the number of people that escaped before the site was found and sealed.
There are also photos of those that lost their lives trying to escape over the wall.
The grounds
also include the Chapel of Reconciliation. It was a Protestant Church situated
within the death strip. At firs the wall looped around it and it became a disturbing symbol of the division of
Germany and Europe. In 1985, as the border grounds continued to be expanded,
the East German government gave the order for the church to be blown up.
The museum that is part of the memorial is across the street from one of the old watch towers and no mans land that still stands.
I highly recommend this site to anyone who stops by Berlin!
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